Merille Medina
Merille Jelline Pelayo Medina, better known by her nickname Merl, is a Filipino Multimedia Arts student from De La Salle Lipa. She was born on Los Banos, Laguna on January 11, 1993. She is the eldest daughter of Milton Villanueva Medina and Jocelyn Quintos Pelayo. Merl has Filipino and Spanish ancestry. She has two other siblings, Marla Jindra, currently a senior high school student who is also a dancer and blogger, and Miguel Jose, a sixth grade student. Early Life Her childhood days were nothing short of adventures both outside and inside their small house. She loved to play outside during the day to explore the world and then stay up until the wee hours of the night to read books and write short stories. The very first book she received as a present from her mother was ‘A Little Princess’ by Frances Hodgson Burnett. By the age of eight, her short stories were a mainstay at their school’s monthly newsletter under the pseudonym ‘little dragon.’ Her elementary days consisted of constantly transferring schools due to family problems which in turn prevented her from having permanent friends. Having no social life, she resorted to writing more stories and learning how to paint which started her interest in the arts. Her books became her permanent friends. She first enrolled at Canossa Academy Calamba and stayed there until the first grade before transferring to Colegio De San Agustin Binan where she spent her second and third grades. Our Lady of the Abandoned Catholic School would be her last school during her elementary days, fourth to sixth grade, where she graduated third honorable mention. She was also a choir member and a majorette during her stay at Our Lady of the Abandoned. High school was a tough time for Merl. Her family was struggling financially during the time so she had to apply for a scholarship at Muntinlupa Science High School. Out of thousands who took the entrance exam, only one hundred eighty students (180) would be admitted. She passed her exam at rank one hundred five (105). She stayed at Muntinlupa Science High School for two years where she became a choir member. She had to transfer again to another school to study her junior and senior years of high school. Her third and fourth years of high school was spent at Southernside Montessori School where she had a major culture shock. “Students from Hollywood movies” was how she would describe the students at her school. She found a few friends who stayed with her and had the same interests which lessened the agonizing pain of being an outcast for two years. When the time for college came, she only had two things in mind – writing and the arts. Her mother approved of what she wanted but the people who would pay for her tuition fees would not, saying that there is no future for writers and artists. Saddened by the fact that only her mother was supporting her, she decided to pursue studying computers, another thing she was good at. She enrolled at iACADEMY for one semester. She struggled with her tuition fees in the middle of the semester which made her stop studying for the rest of the year. The following year, she enrolled at Adamson University where she studied Computer Science. She became an active student, participating in different organizations and activities. She was finally having the time of her school life when another struggle came into her life. Her parents had decided to separate and they had to leave their house and live with her grandmother at Santo Tomas, Batangas. She transferred to De La Salle Lipa where she first took an exam for a degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management. She spent her first semester studying BSHRM before finally following her love for the arts and shifting to study Bachelor of Arts in Multimedia Arts. Being a Multimedia Arts student made her realize her potential and her forgotten dream of being an artist and a writer. She is currently a ‘comedic travel’ blogger, freelance artist and creative writer, and an active student leader. Her next goal is to become a concept artist for any studio, and travel the world. Category:W4B